Testing new high or back track: Aus shares 0.16% lower at noon

The Australian share market is on track for its first week of losses after six weeks of gains.

Todays selling has come on the back of profit taking, plus a dip in the ore price which fell 0.8 per cent to US$67.49 and its futures are pointing to a dip of 0.2 per cent. We are seeing the likes of Rio (ASX:RIO), lose 1.5 and BHP (ASX:BHP) follow.

As a result, miners are the worst performers at noon, leading half of the other sectors lower. In saying that, lithium players are continuing to shine after the lithium price jumped up and is 45 per cent up on the year.

However, the best sector today is health, after CSL (ASX:CSL) reported good news to the market. And we are seeing the IPO from Wednesday 16 May, Star Combo Pharma (ASX:S66) continue to shine with its shares jumping 6.5 per cent today, they rose 27 per cent yesterday and on the IPO day they gained about 60 per cent. And we interviewed Chairman and CEO so check out our website for more.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 9 points or 0.16 per cent lower at 6,085 at noon. On the futures market the SPI is 12 points lower.

Company news

CSL (ASX:CSL) has upgraded its profit forecasts by about $13 million, for the 2018 finanical year, with it now expecting net profit after tax to between US$1.68 billion and US$1.7 billion. The upgrade comes after better than expected sales came through, also boosted by the severe influenza season in the northern hemisphere. Shares in CSL (ASX:CSL) are trading 4 per cent higher at $183.71.

And we are seeing some scattered profit taking in parts of the markets with Bellamy’s Australia (ASX:BAL) also seeing large selling too. For Bellamy’s one of their major holders, Norges Bank closed out their position which took its toll on the company’s shares today, with them trading 4 per cent per at $16.02.

Best and worst performers

The best performing sector is healthcare adding 2.4 per cent while the worst performing sector is materials, shedding 1.2 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is CSL (ASX:CSL), 4 per cent higher at $183.71, followed by shares in Retail Food Group (ASX:RFG) and Origin Energy (ASX:ORG).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is IPH (ASX:IPH), dropping 4.3 per cent to 4.25, followed by shares in nib Holdings (ASX:NHF) and Vocus Group (ASX:VOC).

Asian markets

Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.07 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.1 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at $US1,289 an ounce.One Australian dollar is buying 75.13 US cents.

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin trades at US$8,008, Ethereum is at US$668 and EOS trades 9 per cent lower to US$12.40.

Finance News Network
Jessica joined FNN in January 2017 after having worked in financial advising for seven years and in TV journalism for seven years, specialising in finance, equities and analysis. She has interviewed former Prime Ministers of Australia, Tony Abbott, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd and ex Treasurer Jo Hockey. Jessica has worked as a journalist with Sky News Business, ABC 1, ABC's The Business, ABC24 and has also been a regional Channel 7 and 9 TV reporter.